Commonly, open office areas are divided into individual workstations by space-dividing upright wall panels, desk arrangements or combinations thereof. To accommodate office equipment such as computers, telephones and the like in these workstation areas, electrical and telecommunications cabling is laid throughout the office area to the individual workstations. The cabling is then connected to the office equipment which typically is supported on a work surface that is spaced above the floor. The work surface may be part of the desk or supported from the wall panels.
When providing cabling to the workstations, it is known to route the cabling through the furniture components such as longitudinally between serially-connected wall panels or from one desk to an adjacent desk. Often the cabling is routed throughout the office near floor level or worksurface level such as through raceways formed along the wall panels which hide and protect the cabling. Also, it is known to route the cabling underneath a floor while conventional electrical and telecommunications outlets are provided in the floor itself. However, since office equipment can be and often is supported both above and below the worksurfaces, grommets have been used to route cabling between floor level and the top of the work surface through passages formed in the work surface.
Accordingly, numerous grommets have been provided which define openings in work surfaces through which cabling passes. It is also known to provide grommets in a vertical wall of the furniture component such as a side wall of a desk for the passage of cabling horizontally therethrough.
Grommets typically include a ring-like housing which seats within an opening formed in the horizontal work surface or the vertical wall and defines a relatively large open passage therethrough. Grommets also include caps or covers which seat within the housing to enclose most of the unused area of the opening, and have notches or cut-outs through which the cabling passes.
While many grommets mount in the horizontal work surface, grommets in adjacent end walls of two adjacent desks can be provided directly next to each other to allow the passage of cabling therebetween. It is also known to provide a grommet which allows for the passage of cabling both vertically through the work surface and horizontally through the side wall.
Examples of grommet arrangements having vertical and horizontal passages are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,323,291, 4,884,513, 5,130,494 and 5,429,431, as well as U.K. Patent Application GB 2 130 877.
However, a need is believed to exist for an improved grommet assembly which readily accommodates cabling passing horizontally and vertically therethrough.
Accordingly, the inventive wire management arrangement includes end grommet assemblies which are mountable to the opposite ends of a furniture component such as a desk. The work surface of the desk is formed with openings cut out from the opposite edges thereof which receive the end grommet assemblies therein.
The end grommet includes a housing that defines a hollow interior which opens vertically to define a vertical passage. The housing, however, is open at the edge of the work surface to define a horizontal passage therethrough which is in communication with the vertical passage. Cabling can be passed vertically through the grommet housing and also horizontally out of the open end thereof. When the open ends of two grommet assemblies are positioned adjacent to each other such as when two desks are joined together, a continuous horizontal passage is provided therebetween.
While the vertical and horizontal passages formed by the grommet housing are relatively large to provide for the ready placement of cabling therein, most of this open area is enclosed by openable covers. Accordingly, the end grommet assembly includes a pivotable top cap which generally covers the vertical passage, and a pivotable end cap which generally covers the horizontal passage. The top and end caps can be pivoted upwardly to lay cabling therethrough and also can be closed once laying of the cabling is completed. The top cap includes a pair of notches or openings which allow for the passage of cabling vertically therethrough when the top cap is closed. The end cap also includes at least one notch or opening which opens horizontally to allow for the horizontal passage of cabling.
Thus, the grommet assembly only requires three component parts, namely the top cap, end cap and grommet housing. While the top and end caps are pivotally secured to the grommet housing, the top and end caps also are readily removable by a user to further ease the laying of the cabling. In particular, when the end and top caps are pivoted to substantially vertical open positions, the end and top caps can be slid into and out of engagement with the grommet housing. However, when the end and top caps are in the respective closed positions, removal of these top and end caps is prevented.
If additional vertical passages are required in a desk arrangement, secondary grommet assemblies can also be provided which each define a vertical passage and include a pivotable top cap.
Other objects and purposes of the invention, and variations thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.